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Secretary of War Hegseth Outlines Operation Epic Fury at the Pentagon

March 2, 2026 · The White House · 0:01:39

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth outlined Operation Epic Fury at the Pentagon in a White House video. Hegseth said the mission is laser-focused: destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and ensure they never have nuclear weapons, as he stated it.

He said U.S. forces are hitting Iran surgically, overwhelmingly, and unapologetically, that American capabilities grow stronger each day while Iran’s grow weaker, and that the United States sets the terms of the war from start to finish. He described the administration’s ambitions as realistic and scoped to U.S. interests and the defense of its people and allies.

Hegseth said President Trump hopes the Iranian people take advantage of the opportunity and addressed Iranian security forces directly, saying the president has been clear about their fate in either direction and urging them to choose wisely, as he stated it. He rejected characterizations of an endless war, saying this is not Iraq, that he served in the earlier wars, and that the operation is the opposite of nation-building — a clear, devastating, decisive mission.

Why it matters

Hegseth’s outline is the administration’s defining public statement of Operation Epic Fury’s objectives and limits — the benchmark against which the operation’s scope and duration will be judged.

Scoreboard watch

Hegseth’s stated objectives — destruction of Iran’s missiles, missile production, and navy, and no Iranian nuclear weapons, in an operation he framed as decisive rather than endless — are the checkable commitments of this briefing.

Sources: The White House, “Secretary of War Pete Hegseth outlines Operation Epic Fury at the Pentagon. 🇺🇸”, 2026-03-02 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-03-02). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.